1. Field of the Invention
The instant invention relates to water supply apparatus and more particularly pertains to a new and improved cyclist water supply apparatus that enables the delivering a liquid to a rider of a bicycle from a plurality of reservoirs selectively. Additionally, the liquid may be imparted to the rider in the form of a stream for drinking or a spray for cooling.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of water supply apparatus in combination with bicycles is well known in the prior art. As may be appreciated, these devices have either been of a single reservoir system requiring manual manipulation of the liquid supply to provide a rider of a bicycle a refreshener or the like, or they have been limited in the manner of delivering a liquid to a bicyclist. In this connection, there have been several attempts to develop water supply apparatus for use in combination with bicycles which may be easily and efficiently manipulated to provide a rider with liquid refreshment. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,095,812 to Rowe sets forth the use of a reservoir securable to a bicycle wherein an elongated delivery tube is removable from the confines of a closure whereby a bicyclist may utilize the retractable tube as a drinking straw to receive fluid from the associated reservoir. The use of a single reservoir by Rowe as well as a rather awkward means of extracting fluid from the reservoir limits the convenience and applicability of the patent to provide a variety of liquids in a plurality of forms as available by the instant invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,150,682 to Howarth sets forth the use of a water supply that may be imparted onto the lenses of goggles worn by a motorcyclist in a spray form to clear the goggles of debris in a racing situation. A pressurized tank enables imparting of a spray onto the goggles of the motorcyclist wherein the limited applicability and rather cumbersome nature of the apparatus limits its use on a bicycle that normally requires light weight components for a liquid refreshment system in a typical use situation.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,274,566 to Rowe comprises essentially an improvement over the prior U.S. Pat. No. 4,095,812 in providing a reel-type supply of the flexible drinking tube for use in a bicycle frame environment. While a somewhat improvement in the retraction of the flexible drinking tube, the patent continues to fail in providing a means of supplying alternative fluid sources in either a spray or stream form to a bicycle rider, as does the instant invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,441,638 to Shimano is a typical representation of a water supply bottle as used by bicyclists wherein the configuration of the bottle in providing a streamlined shape in the Shimano patent fails to address the problem of fluid supply during the course of riding to a cyclist.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,455,911 to Kusisto provides a somewhat novel means of imparting a cooling source of air to a cyclist wherein an air flow chamber is driven by means of the forward wheel to impart a coolant air flow to a bicycle rider. While a variation of a means to impart a different form of fluid flow to a cyclist, the device fails to provide the multiple fluid supply selectively utilized by a cyclist to achieve either a cooling effect by a water spray or a refreshment means by use of a fluid stream.
As such, it may be appreciated that there is a continuing need for a new and improved cyclist water supply apparatus which addresses both the problem of multiple fluid storage, compactness, and versatility, and in this respect, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.